


Plump

by BruiseViolet22



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Bulimia, Duke is once again in the bathroom vomiting, F/F, McNamara is a concerned friend, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 20:37:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20364745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BruiseViolet22/pseuds/BruiseViolet22
Summary: Heather Duke longs to be thin. She also longs for Veronica Sawyer.





	Plump

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by the song "Plump" by Hole, which reminds me a lot of Heather Duke.

"Heather, have you got a mint?"

"No Heather. Are you sure you should be in school?"

Heather Duke looked up from the toilet bowl she had just been throwing up in. It was lunchtime, which meant it was time for her to purge.

"You smell gross. You should have brought mints from home." Heather Chandler said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Heather McNamara rummaged around in her backpack. "Here," she said, handing Heather Duke a perfume bottle.

Duke sprayed some perfume liberally, trying to disguise the smell her vomit had made.

She gave McNamara her perfume back, before picking her bag up and traipsing out of the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" McNamara called after her.

"To buy some mints." Duke informed her.

McNamara looked at the back of Duke's head concernedly, while Chandler applied a fresh coat of mascara.

"God. She needs to stop throwing up in the toilet every afternoon. It stinks up the whole bathroom. Heather, spray some more perfume."

McNamara obliged. "Don't you feel a little worried about Heather?" She asked Chandler.

"No."

"But ... well, she doesn't like her body."

"I know."

"But her body is perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with it."

" ... You've noticed her body?"

"You don't think that all this throwing up is something to be concerned about?"

"No. There are other ways to lose weight. She just makes herself throw up for attention."

******************************************************

Heather Duke had just joined the line to buy something from the school cafeteria. The queue was relatively empty, only a couple of people in front of her. As Heather was waiting for her turn, she felt someone come up behind her.

"Hey Heather."

Heather turned around upon hearing her name. Behind her was Veronica Sawyer, with Martha Dumptruck standing next to her.

_ Veronica? Oh no ... _

Why did their paths have to cross at this moment, when Heather's breath smelled like puke?

"H-hi, Veronica", Heather said softly, hoping Veronica couldn't smell her breath. "Um, hey Martha," she added reluctantly, glancing at Martha Dunnstock.

Veronica had hung out with the Heathers for a couple of months at the start of the school year. Duke had quite enjoyed her company. But then Veronica had had a fight with Heather Chandler at a party and went back to her old friends, Martha Dunnstock and Betty Finn. Duke and Veronica had developed a camaraderie during Veronica's time with the Heathers, and even though Duke wasn't supposed to be talking to Veronica anymore, she was still fond of the girl. _ Very _ fond of her, in fact. She thought about Veronica more than she dared to mention.

"It's been a while. So, how's life?" Veronica asked.

"Um, it's okay, I guess. What about you?"

"Pretty good, now that I'm not a member of the Lipstick Gestapo anymore."

Heather must have looked stung, because Veronica hurriedly added, "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with _ you. _ _ You _ weren't the problem."

_ I wasn't? Well, at least someone here doesn't hate me... _

"So what _ was _ the problem?" Heather inquired, hoping she wasn't coming across as overly snappy. She would _ love _ to hear what Veronica had to say about Heather Chandler. She'd love to hear what anyone had to say about Chandler, as long as it was negative. But not many people at Westerburg High School shared their negative opinions on Heather Chandler. That's one of the things that made Veronica different. She was honest. She had integrity. At least, more integrity than Duke did. She left. Duke stayed.

"I guess it was just the whole atmosphere. Being mean to other people for no reason." Veronica glanced at Martha. "And always having to look perfect, and act perfect. You know, I got pretty sick of having to change myself for other people."

"Well, I guess it's not always easy. But weren't you glad to be a Heather?" Duke questioned.

"Are _ you _ glad to be a Heather?"

Truthfully, Duke didn't know what to say. Of course she was glad to be a Heather. But at the same time, it had its downsides. Duke had failed to make the clique _ hers, _ as she had wanted to. She didn't want to share her feelings of failure with Veronica. Heather tried to think of an answer that wouldn't involve revealing how powerless she felt, but came up with nothing. She was worried Veronica would think she was dumb or something due to her lack of an answer. Which was why she was glad it was her turn to place her order with the lunch lady.

"One pack of mints please."

"50 cents."

Heather handed the school dinnerlady the money, and choked out a "See you later" to Veronica, before quickly walking away, feeling mortified, even though she had no reason to be.

******************************************************

"Heather, you should eat something else."

Heather Duke snapped out of her thoughts. She had been looking at the back of Veronica's head. Most of Heather Duke's lunchtime had been spent gazing at Veronica, while regarding Martha Dumptruck with a twinge of jealousy. It had not slipped Duke's notice that Veronica had been spending a _ lot _ of time with Martha over the last few months. _ Kinda like how we used to hang out together. _ It was unlikely that her attraction swung the way Heather wanted it to, because Heather knew Veronica had had that weird goth boyfriend at one time, around the same time that she had been a member of their clique. Although they did eventually break up, but it was only because the boy had to move away. Still, Heather couldn't help but wonder ... _ Does she ever braid her hair? Eat ice-cream and watch Disney movies, and all the other things we used to do? Does she ever take Veronica in her arms ... ?_

"Heather, Heather asked you something." said Chandler.

"I - no, Heather, I don't want anything else."

"But Heather, you really need to eat something else. All you've had is a mint. Look, your tray is still full."

"I _ told _ you, I don't want anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Heather's right." Chandler cut in. "She's already plump enough as it is."

"How about this apple? No?" McNamara asked, as Duke turned her head away from the apple McNamara was offering.

"Alright. What about this carton of milk?" She asked, poking a straw through the hole on top of the milk box. McNamara held it right up to Duke's mouth. Duke sipped a little bit, the sickly sweet taste of Carnation Milk attacking her taste buds, before she removed her lips from the straw. She regretted drinking the milk, but it was already in her mouth. It was too much. Heather felt overfed.

_ It makes me sick. _

Heather stumbled up from the lunch table, making her way to the bathroom.

_ They say I'm plump ... But I throw up all the time ... _

Once again, Heather was alone in the bathroom. She preferred being alone. It felt so much harder with Chandler scrutinizing her. Nothing seemed to please Chandler.

"Are you okay?" She heard a voice say from somewhere behind her.

Duke opened the bathroom door. She had known who it was before she opened the door. But still, she had hoped ...

"I'm fine," she told McNamara, walking towards the sink.

McNamara didn't look like she believed her, but she said "Okay" anyway, waiting for Duke to finish rinsing her mouth out.

Duke popped a mint into her mouth, and the two girls started making their way back to the cafeteria. They walked in complete silence, until Duke piped up. "Heather?"

"Yes?"

"Do you ... do you ever ... "

_ Do you fake it? Do you fake it like I do? Being happy with this? Don't you ever wish Heather Chandler would just ... Drop down dead? ___

_ _"Do I ever what?"_ _

_ _"Uh, never mind. It's not important." Duke said._ _

_ _They walked towards the table where Chandler was waiting for them, evidently impatient with waiting for them to return. Chandler didn't like to be seen eating lunch alone. Duke sighed. She didn't want to sit with Chandler. She felt miserable at having to spend the rest of lunch with the blonde demon ... Or at least, she felt miserable, until she walked past Veronica Sawyer's table and noticed the brunette was giving her a small smile._ _


End file.
